Molded pulp corner protector



July 10, 1951 A. H. RISCH MOLDED PULP CORNER PROTECTOR Filed Dec. 23,1948 jgmvrox; BY

5M Maw HFI'OENZVAS'.

Patented July 10, 1951 UNITED sr-ATss ear-sar or ies MOLDED PULPCORNERPROTECTOR Arthur H. Risch, Wauwatosa, Wis., 'assignor to PulpReproduction Company,

Milwaukee, Wis,

a corporation of Wisconsin I Application December 23,1948, SerialNo.,66,999

3 Claims.

1 The invention relates .generally to improvements in the art ofpackaging prismatic articles forrsafe handling, storage and shipment,and repaper corner protectors for preventing possible damaging ofrelatively bulky prismatic products such as articles of furniture,during handling and shipment thereof, have heretofore been proposed andutilized with varying degrees of success, butnone of these prior deviceshave proven entirely satisfactory. Some of these previous cornerprotectors were formed of sheet material which had to be folded in orderto apply them to they articles, and these foldable devices werediificult to manipulate and to maintain in proper position whilethe-usual outer cartonsor protective crates were beingapplied. The priorcorner protection pads-which were constructed of rubber or rubbercompositions, were notonly costly, but tended to mar the finish of theprotected corner surfaces especially when subjected to variations intemperature and to excessive moisture; while the previous protectionunits which were formed of corrugated paper were insufficiently strongto withstand the impact and abuse to which the articles are oftensubjected during handling and transportation.

It is-therefore an important object of the present invention to providea simple and relatively inexpensivebut efficient corner protectiondevice, formed primarily of molded paper pulp or the like.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a unitarybox-like corner protecting pad formed hollow and having resilientmoisture and 'heat resistant walls, andwhich is constantly in conditionfor quick application to the goods.

A-further. important object of my invention is to provide a cornerprotective unit which may be conveniently and safely applied torelatively delicate prismatic articles of diverse sizes and shapesto'most effectively protect the corners and intervening surfaces of suchproducts.

sun another object of this invention 15 toprovidean improved paper pulpcorner protector for prismatic'items, which is compact and durable inconstruction, and which may also be readily formed to fit and toproperly coact with andto most effectively protect corners of variousangles at very moderate-cost.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following .de-

ilar parts in the various views.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a typical molded fibrouspulp singlecorner protector for rectangular prismatic articles, showing the sameapplied to a corner of the protected goods;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the corner protector of Fig. 1,taken along the plane of the angular line 2-2;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of another typical molded fibrous pulpdouble corner protector for rectangular prismatic articles;

Fig. 4 is a reduced top view of the protector shown in Fig. 3, showingthe same applied to a fragment of the protected article;

Fig. 5 is a similarly reduced transverse'section through the protectorof Figs- 3 and 4, taken along the line 55 of Fig. 4, and also showingitapplied to the goods; and

Fig. 6 is a likewise reduced end view of the .double corner protector ofFigs. 3, 4 and 5.

. molded pulp, having bounding walls reinforced in .any suitable mannereither internally or externally to provide relatively resilient butdurable snugv fitting corner assemblages. These hollow protective bodiesare preferably produced by well-known suction molding methods in orderto provide uniform wall thicknesses, and reinforce- :ment-of the wallstructures may be effected invar- .ious ways so as to augment'the wallstrength while still retaining desired resiliency and protection againstmoisture and temperature variations.

3 The relative angularity and shape of the article engaging surfaces ofthe walls may also be varied throughout a. considerable range, and thetwo embodiments specifically shown herein are merely typical of numerouscommercial forms which these protectors may assume.

Referring specifically to Figs. 1 and 2, the single fibrous pulp cornerprotector shown therein, comprises in general a unitary box-like moldedpulp body It having inner article engaging top and side walls i2respectively-integrally connected to outer top and side walls l3, l4respectively by upper vertical connecting walls I5, by lower horizontalconnecting walls Hi, and by upright end walls I! to form a hollowinterior or chamber I8 communicating with the ambient atmosphere throughone or more openings formed in the lower horizontal connecting wall I6.The walls l2, I3, I4, I 5, I6, H are of approximately the same uniformthickness throughout, and

while the internal surfaces of these walls which bound the chamber [8may be relatively rough due to the suction action of the moldingapparatus, the outer surfaces thereof, and at least the article engagingsurfaces of the walls |2, are preferably formed smooth so as to snuglyengage the goods 2| which is to be protected. The

' walls of the unitary structure while being inherently resilient, maybe coated or otherwise treated with resin or other suitable substance inorder to add strength and to protect the structure against moisture andheat; and the outer top and side walls |3, |4 may be additionallyreinforced by the provision of transverse corrugations 23 as shown inFig. l. I

Referring specifically to Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive, the double fibrouspulp corner protector shown therein, likewise comprises in general aunitary box-like moled pulp body having parallel horizontal inner topand bottom walls 3|, 32 respectively connected by upright inner sidewalls 33, and also having outer top and bottom walls 34, 35 respectivelyconnected by upright outer side walls 36 and which are integrally unitedwith the walls 3|, 32, 33 by end walls 31 and by inner walls 38 toprovide a hollow interior or chamber 39 communicating with the ambientatmosphere through openings 40 formed in the bottom wall 32. All ofthese walls 3|, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 31, 38 are of ap- V proximately thesame uniform thickness throughout, and while the interior wall surfaceswhich bound the chamber 39 may be relatively rough due to the suctionmolding action, the article engaging surfaces of the walls 3|, 32 shouldpreferably be smooth .so as to snugly engage the item 42 which is to beprotected. The inherently resilient paper pulp walls of the unitaryprotector body 30 may be strengthened by the application of moistureresistant coating material; and additional strength may be gained byapplying corrugations 23 as in Fig. 1, if so desired.

As previously indicated, these improved protectors may be readilyproduced with standard paper pulp suction molding apparatus, and whilethe units illustrated in the drawing have the article engaging wallsthereof disposed perpendicular to each other, these walls may bedisposed at any oblique angle desired. The unit of Fig. 1 will fit anyright angled corner, but the unit of Fig. 3 is custom built to fit anarticle 42 of definite dimensions and is adapted to also protect thegoods along the entire side surfaces between corners. By utilizingsuction molding apparatus in the manufacture of the pulp cornerprotectors, they may ious sizes and at very moderate cost, and thestrengthening coatings may be applied by spraying liquid resin or thelike upon the wall surfaces. When the protective units have beenproperly constructed, they may be readily applied to the corners ofarticles 2|, 42 as shown in the drawings and thereafter held in properposition by means of outer cartons or crates in a well known manner, andthe resilient wall separated by an intervening chamber will effectivelyprotect the corners of the goods against damage by impact.

From the foregoing detailed description, it should be apparent that mypresent invention in fact provides a simple, inexpensive and efficientarticle corner protector adapted to be readily applied to items ofvarious sizes and shapes. The box-like protective units are adapted towithstand considerable impact and abuse by virtue of the provision ofresilient walls separated by an intervening chamber and these walls maybe conveniently strengthened and protected by the application ofsuitable coatings, and by the addition of corrugations 23 as depicted inFig. 1 if necessary. The relatively soft velvet-like outer surfaces ofthe article engaging .walls will not mar the protected surfaces of thearticles 2 42, and in cases where it is desirable to protect delicateside surfaces as well as corners of the items, the article engagingwalls may be readily enlarged and extended to provide for such addi-.-tional protection.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this inventionto the exact details of construction of the corner protectors hereinspecifically illustrated and described, because obvious modificationswithin the scope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled inthe art; and it is also contemplated that descriptive terms used hereinbe given the broadest possible interpretation consistent with thedisclosure.

I claim:

1. In a protector for the corner of an article during storage andshipment, a unitary body of molded fibrous paper pulp having threeresilient inner walls snugly engageable with the three intersectingcorner surfaces of the article, and also having three resilient outerwalls spaced from and disposed approximately parallel to said innerwalls and integrally connected to the bounding edges of the latter byresilient transverse walls to provide a substantially enclosed airfilled cushioning chamber within the wall assembly, all of said paralleland transverse walls being of approximately the same uniform thicknessthroughout their entire areas.

2. A package comprising an article and a corner protector, saidprotector comprising a unitary body of molded fibrous paper pulp havingthree resilient inner walls snugly engaging the three intersectingcorner surfaces of the article, and also having three resilient outerwalls spaced from and disposed approximately parallel to said innerwalls and integrally connected to the bounding edges of the latter byresilient transverse walls to provide a substantially enclosed airfilled cushioning chamber within the wall assembly, all of said paralleland transverse Walls being of approximately the same uniform thicknessthroughout their entire areas,

and said outer walls also being provided with 10-- cal reenforcingcorrugations disposed substantially parallel to said article cornersurfaces.

3. In a protector for the right-angular corner of an article duringstorage and shipment, a unitary body of molded fibrous paper pulp havingthree resilient plane inner walls disposed per- F'EFERENCES CITEDpendicular t each other to snugly engage t The following references areof record in the three intersecting corner surfaces of the article, fileof 131115 198113811131 and also having three resilient plane outer walls5 UNITED STATES PATENTS spaced from and disposed perpendicularto eachother and approximately parallel to sand inner 2 e Dec 1 1937 walls andintegrally connected to the bounding 2,181150 Pittenger Nov' .1939

edges of the latter by resilient transverse walls h to provide asubstantiallyenclosed air filled cush- 10 gaff fif g2 ioning chamberwithin the Wall assembly, all of 2411622 a i i 1946 said walls being ofapproximately the same uniuyel e a form thickness throughout theirentire areas FOREIGN PATENTS and said outer walls being spanned by reen-N forcing corrugations disposed within the plane 15 23 5 gg g g g outersurfaces thereof.

ARTHUR H. RISCH.

